Barangkali ini adalah tantangan yang tidak terposting paling cantik di antara tantangan KBB yang sudah aku jalani. Tantangan yang bikin gundah gulana, galau dan sebagainya. Secara lagi baking blue, ditambah jadwal yang penuh dengan beberapa weekend mesti keluar kota membuat perasaan panik bisa ga nyelesein pe er kali ini dengan baik. Untung mbak Emma memberi pencerahan di milis yang membuat aku rada percaya diri untuk membuatnya.
Galau dimulai dengan membaca surat cinta yang langsung bikin migren kumat. Kemudian janjian latbar bareng Mbak Emma dan Jeng Rurie batal karena harus meeting mendadak. Akhirnya malamnya ditekadin bikin puff pastry. Malam-malam hujan ditemani suami sambil nonton TV, ternyata tidak membantu dough-ku untuk tidak bocor, huaaaa !!! dan itu terjadi di dua lipatan terakhir, huaaaaa !!! Akhirnya masuk freezer, deh.
Setelah itu, hampir terlupakan deh itu pe er, entah pula nasib dough dan filling yang ngendon di kulkas lebih dari seminggu itu. Baru tersadar setelah Mamajo teriak-teriak reminder pe er, OMG ... !!! Untung dough dan filling masih ok.
Akhirnya ditekadin deh, nyelesein pe er. Sesuai saran mbak Emma, aku cuma ambil 1/4 dari dough, untuk aku finishing. Sambil komat-kamit, jompa-jampi, tergilas juga itu dough, diisi filling, penyet sana-sini, oles kuning telur (sampai terlupa mesti tabur gula pasir di atasnya), panggang deh. Meski begitu, tetep ga telaten juga bikin "pia ala londo" ini, cuma separo adonan, sisanya aku bikin bentuk yang lebih simple, diisi kayak kue amandel dan digulung lalu diiris tipis.
Saat matang, voila ... !!! jadi juga ternyata, meski menteganya mencair membuat eccles-ku serasa "berenang" di loyang, tapi rasanya bener kok rasa puff pastry ... dan layernya kebentuk ... hehehe ... ga sia-sia perjuangan menggilas dough yang penuh perjuangan darah dan air mata. Host !!! lulus ga daku kali ini ????
Pastry yang aku juluki "pia londo" ini adalah sejenis pastry yang berasal dari sebuah kota di Inggris. Kue ini pertama kali tahun 1793 oleh toko James Birch, yang terletak di jalan Vicarage di kota Eccles. Kue dengan bentuk bundar pipih, dan berisi kismis ini menjadi kue yang sangat laku dikala itu dan kemudian dikenal dengan nama "Eccles Cake" sesuai dengan nama kota tempatnya berasal.
Eccles Cakes
Makes about 50 smallish cakes
Filling
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Peel from 2 lemons
Peel from 2 oranges
2 cups dried currants
1/2 cup
golden raisins
2 tablespoons brandy
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add the spices and peel and fry until they are fragrant in the butter.
3. Add the fruit, brandy, and juice.
4. Simmer for ten or fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Let
cool, then put in the fridge overnight to let the flavors really meld.
Puff Pastry
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter
4 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon salt
Between 1 and 1/2 cups ice water
1. Take three of the sticks of butter and slice them in half lengthwise and then again width wise. Arrange them into a rectangle on a large piece of wax paper.
2. Put another piece of wax paper on top and roll them the butter out into a 9x12-inch rectangle between the sheets of waxed paper. Chill for at least four hours.
3. Put the four cups of flour into a food processor. Cut up the remaining stick of butter and add it, bit by bit, to the flour and pulse into dusty crumbs. Dump the butter-flour crumbs into a big bowl and add ice water gradually, stirring, just until the dough comes together. Knead for a couple minutes until smooth. Wrap and refrigerate four hours or overnight.
4. Roll the dough out into a 1/4-inch-thick rectangle and place the butter rectangle on top. Fold the corners of the dough over the butter and roll out to its previous size. Fold the sides of the dough up to the middle, like folding a piece of paper into thirds, then fold it again in half — like closing a book. You're working the butter into the dough in finer and finer layers; the butter if it stays cold will puff the pastry up in delicious and spectacular ways when you're finished. Wrap this parcel well and put back in the fridge for at least an hour or two. Take the dough out and roll the parcel out into the rectangle again, then repeat the folding process. This is working the butter into the pastry in finer and finer layers. Continue this process - rolling out, then folding. These are called turns. Do at least four turns - six or more is even better.
5. It's very simple: the longer you let the dough rest and chill between turns, and the more turns you do, the lighter and flakier your pastry will be. I did five turns over the course of about 8 hours, and mine was fine - but if I was doing some other kind of pastry I would definitely let it sit overnight at least once. Assembly 1 egg, beaten Coarse sugar Heat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Take a third of the the puff pastry dough from the fridge. It should be very cold
and firm, but not hard. Roll it out to a thickness of about 1/8-inch. Cut small circles - I used a biscuit cutter that gave me four-inch circles. You could do larger, but I wanted a lot of individual pastries.
6. Put a small dollop of filling (about 1 teaspoon) in the center of each dough circle. Fold in half, like a potsticker dumpling, and seal the edges with your fingers. Now bring the two pointy edges up and fold them in the center, on the curved seam. Flatten out the little pouch with your fingers, and roll it into a small circle - just thin enough that the filling shows through the dough a little. Try not to let it leak out, though. Make two or three shallow slashes in the top of the finished round cake.
7. Brush with beaten egg, and sprinkle with sugar. (Note: I think that my pastry dough was pretty warm by this point, from all the handling and rolling. I didn't try this at the time, but in the future I think I would put the finished, unbaked pans of cakes in the fridge or freezer to let them chill again - maybe for an hour. This would make a higher, lighter pastry.) Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and puffy. Try not to eat one immediately - the hot raisin filling will scorch your mouth - believe me, I know. These are amazingly good even a few days later.
